Banjo



1,365,450, Patented Jan. 11,1921.

INVENTDR JOHN .BDLANDER BY Wy 42.

ATT'Y PATENT orrlcs.

JOHN A. BOLANDER, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

BANJO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

Original application filed June 25, 1917, Serial No. 176,775. Divided and this application filed January To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN A. BOLANDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Berkeley, county of Alameda, State of California, h ave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Banjos, whereof the following is a specification.

This invention comprehends improvements in musical instruments and relates more par ticularly to stringed instruments of the banjo family, and is a division of my appli cation filed June 25, 1917. Serial No. 17 677 5.

The invention relates to a resonator shell or reflector secured to the rear side o1 the instrument body, to throw the sound for ward.

WVith this and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter described, illustrated and claimed.

In the one sheet of drawing:

Figure 1 is an inverted perspective view showing the body of the instrument with the resonator secured thereto.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through the central portion of the instru ment.

Referring in detail to the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawing, 1 designate the preferably wooden rim to which is secured the neck 2. The rim may be mortised or recessed to receive the neck, whereby a firm connection between these two memhers is obtained.

To throw the sound of the instrument forward and minimize the quantity absorbed by the clothes and body of the player, a resonator shell 3, in the form of a curved plate, is secured to the rear edge of the rim by any suitable means, such as screws 4, or may be adjustably mounted thereon if desired.

The strings 5 pass over the bridge 6 and may be secured in any suitable manner. I have shown them as secured in the manner which is the subject matter of my original application of which this application is a division, but which I will not describe here as Serial No. 214,069.

it is fully described in said original application.

While I have shown my invention embodied in a banjo, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to this particular kind of instrument, but may apply the idea to other instruments of a similar structure, to which it is readily applicable.

Having thus described my invention, and an embodiment of it, in the full, clear and exact terms required by law, and knowing that it comprises novel, useful and valuable improvements in the art to which it pertains, I here state that I do not wish to be limited to the precise construction and arrangement of the several parts, as herein set forth, as the same may be variously modified by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is the following, towit 1. A banjo including a rim, a resonator shell having a rear edge corresponding to the shape of said rim and having an arcuate front edge of a greater-radius than said rim, said resonator shell secured to the rear edge of said rim and curved outwardly therefrom forming thereby a free space between said rim and shell for the egress of sound.

2. In combination with the rim of a banjo, a resonator shell having a circular edge portion secured to the rear edge of said rim and a free edge curved outwardly from said rim forming thereby a free space between said rim and shell for the egress of sound.

3. The combination with a banjo head, of a resonator shell having its rear edge closely fitted to the free edge of the rim of said head. and its opposite free edge curved outwardly therefrom for the egress of sound.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing, I hereto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses, this 1st day of December. 1917.

JOHN A. BOLANDER.

Witnesses:

LoUIsn BEARDEN, MARION R. BEARDEN. 

